In a momentous expansion of the apparatus of government secrecy, the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is requiring employees and
others to sign legally binding non-disclosure agreements as a
condition of access to certain categories of unclassified
information.

Up to now, non-disclosure agreements have only been used by
government agencies to regulate access to classified information.
In fact, they are one of the defining features of the national
security classification system, along with security clearances and
the "need to know" principle. As far as Secrecy News could
determine, such classification-like controls have never before
been systematically imposed on access to unclassified information.

But now at DHS a non-disclosure agreement must be executed in order
to gain access to any one of a panoply of new and existing
categories of unclassified information, including:

"For Official Use Only (FOUO); Official Use Only (OUO); Sensitive
Homeland Security Information (SHSI); Limited Official Use (LOU);
Law Enforcement Sensitive (LES); Safeguarding Information (SGI);
Unclassified Controlled Nuclear Information (UCNI); and any other
identifier used by other government agencies to categorize
information as sensitive but unclassified."

The proliferation of controls on unclassified information signifies
a massive increase in government secrecy, particularly since the
number of officials who are authorized to designate information in
one of these categories dwarfs the number of officials who can
create classified information.

And while the classification system operates according to certain
well-defined rules and limitations, including procedures for review
and challenge of classification decisions, the same is not true of
the "sensitive but unclassified" domain. Furthermore, there is
nothing like the Information Security Oversight Office to monitor
and oversee the restriction of unclassified information.

(Some types of sensitive but unclassified information are not
specifically protected by statute and can still be successfully
requested under the Freedom of Information Act. But with Justice
Department encouragement, agencies take an expansive view of the
scope of the Act's exemptions and access is increasingly
uncertain.)

The DHS non-disclosure agreement is apparently the first such
document crafted in the Bush Administration. It represents a new
high water mark in the rising tide of official secrecy.

A copy of DHS Form 11000-6, Non-Disclosure Agreement for Sensitive
But Unclassified Information, dated August 2004, was obtained by
Secrecy News and is posted here:

The Department of Defense is revising the way that it marks
classified documents in order to facilitate appropriate sharing of
classified information with allies.

"In support of homeland security and coalition warfare we have an
increased need to share data with our foreign partners," wrote
Stephen A. Cambone, Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence.
"Our ability to share in a timely manner will determine our
ability to leverage our unmatched capabilities."

A copy of his September 27, 2004 memo identifying various technical
changes in classification marking policy is posted here (thanks to
RT):

Last April, Mr. Cambone circulated revisions to the Pentagon's
information security program that will be incorporated in a
forthcoming DoD regulation on the subject (DoD 5200.1-R). An
attachment provided interim guidance on safeguarding controlled
unclassified information categories like FOUO, LES, SBU, etc.

U.S. government officials acknowledged last weekend that thousands
of shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles once held by Saddam
Hussein's Iraq are missing, as reported by the New York Times
(11/6/04) and the Washington Post (11/7/04).

The threat to civilian aviation posed by such missiles (formally
known as Man-Portable Air Defense Systems or MANPADs) was addressed
in a recently updated report from the Congressional Research
Service.